Halted economy on the horizon
Today, in response to the pandemic, the province of Quebec ordered the closure of bars, gyms and cinemas. For some people in my circle, that’s a very big deal. Think this through: a family friend that works as a DJ, now unemployed. A son that has his life tied up in a microbrewery with restaurant and bar, now wondering what can happen that is worse for his bottom line. I can’t speak to gyms, but I’m sure that for some that daily dose of endorphins will be missed.
I mean, the government has to take measures to protect the population at large, but will the government pick up the slack here? If you depend on your job for food and accommodations, will the government offer some sort of backstop? So far, crickets.
Locally, the only “big” measure is that the local university has cancelled all on-campus classes. Again, no way of knowing how those who have their lives tied up in their studies are going to get past this latest speedbump. Tuition refunds? Marks for classes that were never taught? Hard to know, because those at the top are playing the quiet game.
Elsewhere, toilet paper shortages are now a reality for parts of the family. Once the pile of double-ply is gone, will they have to learn to wash their hands for real? New territory. We’ve never had a similar situation in my lifetime, so it’s hard to fall back on experience. And the really bad feature of this is that we don’t know for how long.
After a sprint, the family tree database moved on past the 94K mark.
